Gong Xi Fa Cai to everyone celebrating the Lunar New Year’s, Year of the Dragon!
As today is a public holiday, we decided that we’d grill something new tonight. Golden Snapper, a fish that’s quite common to these parts of the world, accompanied by a rock mellon and peach salsa and sautéed vegetables.
Here’s what you need for each of the three dishes that make up a great meal on the Big Green Egg, or any other grill for that matter.
Main Ingredients:
4 medium size golden snapper fillets (skin on)
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS dried minced garlic
1 teaspoon paprika
1 pinch of cumin seed
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper for seasoning
Coat the fillets in olive oil and sprinkle the rub on top of the fish, no need to coat the skin side. Let it rest for a while and come up to room temperature. The spices will set in nicely during this time as well.
Sautéed vegetables:
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 a butternut squash, thinly sliced
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
2 TBS quality olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper for seasoning
Simply cut up your veg and sauté the above in a pan with a bit of olive oil until the vegetables are done, about 5-7 minutes on medium/high heat. Don’t overdo it here…nothing worse than limp vegetables, you want to maintain a bit of crunch to them.
Fresh Fruit Salsa:
1/2 Rock melon (cantaloupe), diced
3 peaches, pitted and diced
1 small cucumber, diced
2 TBS cilantro, chopped finely
Juice of 1 fresh lime
Kosher salt, to taste
Once chopped and diced, mix it all up and then place the bowl into the fridge to keep in nice and cold before you plate up the meal.
Prepare your salsa and then cook your vegetables. Set them aside with a lid on the pan to keep them warm. Now go and get that fish on!
Spark up the grill to 500 degrees F about 30 minutes before you’re ready to grill. Make sure the flames have died down a bit and you’re grilling on smoldering charcoal (should look like the inside of a volcano if you’ve ever been in one!) Make sure your grid is oiled nicely so that the fish won’t stick once done. Place the fish on the grid for no more than 10 minutes and let the BGE do the rest. Remove the fish and now plate the rest of your ingredients.
The family and I really enjoyed this recipe. A bit of a faff to prepare the salsa and vegetables, but well worth it in the end. I really like the smokey taste that infused into the fish and the garlic/spice coating was absolutely amazing. The grilled veg was tasty and the salsa was really, really, really good and provided a great cool balance to the earthy fish and veg.
Simple and tasty!
Oh, by the way, this post is dedicated to the “losers” at work that are trying hard to get fit and healthy! 4 1/2 more weeks team!
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Overall Heather Rating: 8/10